Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho believes Paul Pogba may already be the world’s best midfielder, yet he thinks his goal return ensures he will struggle to challenge Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the top individual accolades.

The returning Pogba, who has only trained with United for 11 days, has been declared fit for selection against Southampton when the Frenchman could make his first Old Trafford appearance since 2012.

A world-leading sum of £89million was required to bring him back after a four-year stint with Juventus and Mourinho believes his club have acquired a player who has evolved into one of the planet’s finest midfielders.

However, the United boss does not expect to see Pogba breaking Messi and Ronaldo’s domination of the Ballon d’Or because his goal haul, which never exceeded 10 in a season at Juve, is not eye-catching enough.

“First of all, when you speak about the best players in the world you go immediately to the ones that score a lot of goals,” Mourinho said.

“You don’t give a gold ball to a goalkeeper. They gave a gold ball to (Fabio) Cannavaro once but because in that season he was captain of Italy, they were world champions, and there were not too many top players.

“(Paolo) Maldini never got a gold ball, (Javier) Zanetti never got a gold ball, top goalkeepers over history don’t get a gold ball. You look immediately to the ones that score a lot of goals.

“Can Paul score Ronaldo and Messi goals? Not even 25 per cent. I believe in a season he cannot score 20 goals. If to be the best player in the world means to score a lot of goals, that’s not the point.

“He is one of the best midfield players, maybe I could say the best midfield player in the world.”